Life-preserving garment.



A. TELEKY.

LIFE PRESBRVING GARMENT.

APPLICATION IILED NOV. 1, 1912.

1,096,574, Patented May 12, 1914.

INVENTOR J g W? ANTAL TELEKY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LIFE-PRESERVING GARMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 12, 1911.4.

Application filed November 1, 1912. Serial No. 729,049.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ANTAL TnLnKY, a subjectof the King of Hungary, and resident of the city of New York, in thecounty of New York and State of New invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Life-Preserving Garments, of which the following is aspecification.

The present invention relates to a life preserving or life savinggarment, and has for one of its objects to provide a water-tight garmentof this type which can be conveniently applied to the body and worn incase of a marine disaster or accident.

Another object of the invention is to produce a garment with means,whereby the wearer will be kept afloat in an upright position in thewater.

A further object of the invention is to provide a garment with meanswhich facilitates in an effective manner the motion of the body throughthe water by the movement of the hands and arms.

With these and other objects in view, which will more fully appear asthe nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists inthe combination, arrange ment and construction of parts hereinafterfully described, pointed out in the appended claim and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, it being understood that manychanges may bemade in the size and proportion of the several parts and minor detailsof construction within the scope of the appended claim without departingfrom the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

One of the many possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of agarment constructed in accordance with the present invention in an openposition; Fig. 2 is a similar view of a portion of the garment in aclosed position; and Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the hand coveringportion of the garment on an enlarged scale.

The garment is made of a water-proof or impervious material of anysuitable type, its seams and joints being made water-proof.

Generally speaking, the invention consists of a union garment, to theneck portion of which is attached a head covering, and the sleeve andleg portions of which are provided with hand and feet coverings,respectively; the handcoverings being provided York. have.

with means for facilitating the motion of the wearer through the water.

In the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates the trunk portion of thegarment, provided in its front with a closure slit .11 extending fromthe neck portion 12 to the belt or waist portion 13 thereof. The edgesof the closure slit are provided with impervious overlapping strips l l:and 15, to which are attached coacting separable fastening means 16 and17, which are shown in the drawings to be of the head and socketfastener type, although it will be easily seen that any other suitablemeans may be used just as well. The trunk portion 10 is provided withsleeves 1.8, with which are made integral hand coverings 19 in the formof gloves. The finger and thumb portions of these gloves are united bywebs 20 for a purpose hereinafter to be described.

With the trunk portion of the garment are made integral leg portions 21,the free ends of which are provided with feet coverings 22, to the soleportions of which are secured weights 23 of any suitable size, whichtend to hold the body in an upright position when floating in the water.

To the shoulder portion of the garment is attached a head covering 2i,preferably a hood, inclosing entirely the head of the person, butleaving a small portion of the face exposed. The hood 2i has adownwardly extending flap 25, to the free edges of which are attachedcoacting fastening means 26 and 27, for instance of the head and socketfastener type.

Above the waist portion of the garment is arranged a life preserver belt28 of the well known construction. This belt is fastened to the garment,and held in proper position upon the body of the person by straps 29adapted to be engaged by buckles 30, said buckles and straps beingsecured in any suitable manner to the ends of the life preserver belt.

These garments are usually made large enough to accommodate any personof the ordinary size; and to hold the same properly in position upon thebody, a belt 31 is attached to the waist portion thereof. One of thefree ends of the said belt is provided with a buckle 32, adapted tocoact with a plurality of perforations 33 in the other end thereof. Aring 34 is held upon the belt, andl serves for the attachment of a lineor corc.

The garments are stored away with their closure slits 11 open, and theends of the life preserver belt 28 and the waist belt 31 disengaged fromeach other. The person can thus easily step into the closure opening,

' place the arms into the sleeves and draw up the garment so that thelegs will enter the leg portions 21, 21. After this, the belt 31 isdrawn tight around the waist line, whereby the garment will be held inthe proper position upon the body. The closure slit 11 is then closed,by which operation the neck portion 12 will be drawn tightly around theneck of the wearer. The straps 29 are then brought into engagement withtheir corresponding buckles 30, and finally the hood 2-1 drawn over thehead, the fastening devices upon the flap 25 engaged with each other,whereby a water-tight covering is provided for the body, which willpermit the body to stay in the water for a considerable time withoutexposure to cold. It is to be ob served that the body will float in anupright position by reason of the weights 23 upon the sole portions ofthe feet coverings of the garment, The webs 20 connecting the finger andthumb portions of the hand coverings serve the same purpose as thosebetween the digits of aquatic birds, that is to say they copies of thispatent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing theCommissioner vices arranged upon both of said strips, foot coveringsupon the free ends of said legs, balancing weights attached to the soleportions of said foot coverings, hand coverings in the form of glovesupon'said sleeves, webs connecting the fingers and thumb portions ofsaid hand coverings, a safety belt attached above the waistline .to saidtrunk portion, and a hood permanently attached to the shoulder part ofsaid trunk portion, said hood having a downwardly extending flap andcoacting fastening means on the free edges of said flap.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this th day of October, A. D. 1912.

ANTAL TELEKY. Witnesses:

SIGMUND Hnnzoe, M. FRIEDLANDER.

of Patents,

Washington, I). C.

